I just don't remember school shutting down for cold weather when I was growing up. Maybe it did happen and I've forgotten, but I don't remember it ever happening.

I think that most of the closings for cold weather are in places where the weather is a whole lot colder than the usual coldest it gets in those places, and so most of the kids don't have proper coats and stuff. That's different than just regular winter cold in places that are prepared for it.

I've just discovered that one of my living room windows needs re-hanging - there is a tiny gap at the top which I can't close. (I can push the top window all the way up, but the gap comes back once I close the lower one.) That would explain why my bedroom is so warm and the rest of the apartment is so cold.

You know what sounds good? Strawberry waffles and hot chocolate with whipped cream.

Yes, I think I know what my lunch will be.

I never had snow days growing up but I remember having days where school was released early due to heat. I attended a few schools that didn't have air conditioned classrooms and when the temp was about 100 by something like 10:30 in the morning we'd get let out early.

Growing up in Indiana we rarely had school canceled for snow, but I do recall at least once where it was canceled for cold, because they didn't want kids waiting for the bus in below zero temperatures. ...I also recall many times in high school when I would wait for the bus with wet hair, and it would freeze. Stupid early start times. Like it wasn't enough to be a sullen teenager, you also have to make me wait for a bus at 6:30AM??

The only weather related school closings I had were for flooding. I think my brother's junior high closed when the power went out and it was hot because they had air conditioning but the windows didn't open.

In 1977, Cincinnati had almost 30 days that were below zero, and the Ohio River froze solid enough that people could walk on it. (I think someone drove a car onto it, though I don't know how far, or what the outcome was.) We lived in a fairly rural area, and I was off school for at least 2 weeks, if not longer, because of the temperatures. Too many kids walked to school, and that shit isn't safe.

Man, I sound like an old coot.

t edit Check that out: [link] That's the Ohio River, looking south into Covington, Kentucky. WHAT THE HELL. That's fucking cold, man.

As others have said, the main reason the schools are closed is that most kids don't have the clothing to dress for walking to a bus stop and waiting in 8-degree temperatures. While many could theoretically be warm enough with layers, except for their feet, neither they nor their parents have any experience with this kind of cold. We're also a land of carports, not garages, so many cars aren't starting.

On the other hand, people don't die in heat waves here.

I remember stories of the ice floes breaking up in the big rivers in the spring and the ice blocking the rivers and causing floods. National Guard units went out to blow the ice dams up. Good times Back In The Day.

I do worry about kids without good coats not having enough food at home, either, and they are missing out on school breakfast and lunch.